Real Feelings and a Real Date
by melissaeverdeen13
Summary: The presence of a new group of doctors forces Jackson to finally make a move. Set in s9, before 9x07.


"Honey, honey, honey," I murmur, placing my hands on either of April's inner thighs. "You can't be that loud."

Her chest heaves with exertion as she tries to catch her breath. I haven't made her come yet, but she's close. And by talking, I'm pulling her away. I know that. But with the way she was moaning and sighing and whimpering my name, someone is bound to knock down that on-call room door any minute.

"Then you can't be that good," she says, letting her head fall back to hit the thin pillow.

"Sadly, that's something I can't control," I say, sneaking up her body to rest between her legs. I can feel her core, hot and throbbing, against my torso. "I was born with this talent."

She kisses me, holding my face tight between her hands as she moves her mouth hungrily. "I have a tour to lead," she pants. "And I really want you to make me come before I have to go do that."

I bury my face in her neck, sucking on her skin until she whimpers and wraps her legs around me. I sink inside her, teeth clamped on her pulse point, and her voice matches the rhythm of my hips.

She's not subtle whatsoever. But then again, neither am I. Leaving hickeys on her has become a sort of brand for me.

Usually, I leave them where people can't see. The swell of her breasts, around her nipples, in a line over the soft skin of her stomach, sometimes on her inner thighs. But not today. Today, I'm so turned on I don't care who sees the mark on her neck and wonders who's had her between the sheets.

I almost want people to know. I'm aware she's not ready for that yet, but I am.

I nibble on that same spot, smiling when her moan turns into a high, desperate-sounding whimper as I push even deeper inside her. Her fingers grapple for my shoulder blades as her back arches, pushing her body against mine.

"Right there, right there," she says urgently, tapping me on the back with an open palm. "Jackson, please. Please, please, please… oh, my god…"

I thrust and watch her mouth fall open, eyes rolling back as her eyelashes flutter. Seeing her like that, I can't help but come myself, hips twitching and bucking as I spill inside her body.

She kisses every inch of open skin of mine she can reach as she's coming down, opening her mouth on my neck, my jaw, my shoulders. Our bodies are sweaty as they're pressed together, but I don't care and I know she doesn't either.

When we have enough time, I do everything I can to keep her here and lie with her in the aftermath. I know she has a tour to get to, but instead of rushing off, she lets me wrap my arm around her and pull her close to my chest.

"My neck hurts," she whispers, lips moving against my bare skin where she rests.

I reach to run my fingers over the blossoming hickey. Right now, it's angry red with a defined outline - I hadn't meant to create one so obvious. I got carried away.

"Right there," she says, wincing.

"That was my bad," I say, turning towards her.

"Is it a hickey?" she asks.

I nod.

She touches it just like I had, gently with a look of concern on her face. "It hurts," she says, but a smile sneaks onto her lips as she cranes her neck to kiss me.

I trail my hand down the dip of her waist to rest on her hip, pulling her closer to tuck my grip inside her knee and extend her leg across both of mine.

She slings one arm around my middle and traces her tongue along the seam of my lips, and I part them for her. We kiss, slow and lazy, and I feel myself get hard again just as her pager goes off.

"Oh," she says, sitting up without bothering to cover herself. I stay lying down, eyes grazing over her naked chest. Her nipples are flushed and erect, the pink tone of her skin traveling all the way up to her pretty face. "The new doctors are here. I have to get ready, I…" She looks down at me. "I can't stay."

"I know," I say. "It's okay. Go."

She cups the side of my face in one hand, kissing me before crawling over my body to get off the cot. I watch her from behind as she slips back into her underwear and straightens her scrubs, running a brush through her hair to tame it. She checks the mirror, reapplies a thin coat of lip gloss, then tips her head to examine the hickey.

She looks back at me and we lock eyes.

"I don't have any makeup," she says. "What are people gonna…"

I shrug. "Who cares?"

Her eyes grow wide. "They're gonna know we're sleeping together."

"So?" I say. "Let them."

She wrings her hands, tugging her lower lip into her mouth. "I don't know if I'm ready for that," she admits. "I mean, we haven't ever been on a real date. And here we are… having sex every chance we get…" She sighs. "Jackson, people think I revirginized. I shouldn't be… they'll make fun of me."

"So, send 'em my way," I say.

She sighs. "It doesn't work like that."

We spend a moment just looking at each other, saying nothing. Then her pager beeps again, interrupting the moment that was supposed to be pivotal.

"I gotta go," she says, glancing at it. "How do I look?"

"Not at all just like you just got banged."

"Jackson," she says, seriously.

"You look fine," I say, doing a sweep of her body.

"How's this?" she asks, turning her neck.

It's bad. It's really bad, and it's really obvious. It's practically staring back at me.

"Can barely see it."

As I'm doing post-ops on a patient a little while later, I pass April and her tour group. They're not so much on a tour anymore as just having a discussion in the hallway; with her dressed in navy blue scrubs and the rest of them in yellow. It's a god-awful color. I'd transfer hospitals, too, if that was the dress code.

"Hey," I say, passing by and giving her a small wave.

"Hey," she says, waving back and curling her hair behind her ear.

I wink at her, and her cheeks blush pink like always.

"I'd like to introduce you guys to Dr. Avery," she says, and a thrill runs through my body hearing her call me that. "He works in plastics. He's one of the best."

I flash a winning smile. "Nice to meet you all," I say.

"These are the transfers from Seattle Pres," she says. "Dr. Reynolds here will be working under you in plastics."

I shake his hand. He has light brown hair, brown eyes, and a light complexion. When he smiles, I notice his front tooth is just the slightest bit off center.

"Looking forward to working with you," I say, nodding. "But if you'll excuse me, everyone, I need to get back to my patients."

I wave at April again and continue in the direction I was headed. As I'm walking down the hallway, I run into Cristina who's lazily scrolling on a tablet.

"Hey, Yang," I say, leaning on the nurses' station counter next to her.

She raises her eyebrows at me in a greeting. "Avery," she says. She looks up, then chuckles at something she must have remembered. "Oh, I caught Kepner's neck. Did you take a bite out of her, Count Dracula?"

My stomach twists, caught off-guard. "What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Everyone knows," she says, rolling her eyes. "So, don't play dumb. I know you and Kepner are screwing, she's no virgin born again. She can try all she wants, but there's no way she can unstick your dick."

"Please, never say that again."

"What?" she says. "It's true. She can't just pretend it never happened and pray it away. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Well, she-" I begin, but cut myself off. "I know," I admit, then sigh. "So, does everyone know?"

"Everyone with eyes and a brain," she says. "You two conveniently always disappear at the same time, and Kepner comes back with bite marks on her neck and shoulders. Or hickeys. And you come back looking refreshed, with a new vigor for life. You have the look of a man who's regularly getting laid, and we all know who you have eyes for."

I furrow my eyebrows. "I don't have _eyes_ for-"

She scoffs. "Oh, please, pretty boy. When Kepner walks in a room, you practically start drooling. You hang on every word she says. She could be prattling off a grocery list in that annoying little voice and you'd be staring at her, all googly-eyed and in love."

"I am not in love," I grumble.

"Sure," she says. "Keep tellin' yourself that."

"She doesn't want people to know," I say, the words bursting from me of their own volition. "She doesn't wanna be found out, because she thinks you guys will make fun of her."

"Oh, we will," Yang says. "But we'll make fun of you, too. You're both stuck."

I sigh.

"All in good humor, Avery!" she says. "You guys are good for each other. Please, don't be an idiot and let her get away a second time. Tell her how you feel."

"I don't know what I feel," I say.

"Lies," she says. "Pretty sure you got some feelings in that pretty little head of yours. Don't you?"

"Feelings for her?"

"No, feelings for your left shoe," she says, sarcastically. "Yes, feelings for Kepner. How dense can you be?"

I shrug.

"Oh, don't go pouting now."

"I just don't know if she feels the same way about me."

"You sound like a teenage girl," Yang says, grumbling. "And I can't believing I'm giving you counsel over this. But I'm here and I'm bored, so you got lucky today." She sighs. "Kepner is annoying. High-strung, type A, as neurotic as they come. She's weird as hell."

"Where are you going with this?" I snap.

"Down, boy," she says. "What I'm trying to say is that she calms down around you. You do something crazy to her, you're like her drug. And God knows, she's yours."

I rest my chin on my closed fist. "So, you're saying I should tell her how I feel?" I ask.

"Do what you want," she says, walking off. "But I'm not gonna listen to your little whiny cry-fest again."

I linger at the nurses' station for a while longer until I get hungry for lunch. When I head to the cafeteria, I sit at a table with Alex and Arizona and see that April is sitting with Dr. Reynolds halfway across the room.

Suddenly, I'm not that hungry anymore.

"You okay, Jackson?" Arizona asks.

"Fine," I answer.

Alex snickers. "Pouting," he mumbles.

"I'm not pouting."

"Sure," he says. "Pretty boy's pissed because his girlfriend is sitting at a table with the new kid."

"She's not my girlfriend, and I'm not pissed," I say. "I'm just… I have a lot on my mind."

"Like Kepner's neck," Alex says.

Arizona nods. "Yeah, I saw that, too."

I don't acknowledge their comments, I just keep my head down towards my food and try to eat it. It doesn't work too well, though, because I can hear the sound of April's laugh carrying across the cafeteria as she reacts to something Dr. Reynolds said that probably wasn't funny.

"I gotta go," I say, throwing away my half-eaten lunch. "I have a consult."

"With your therapist?" Alex calls out, laughing.

I ignore him.

I try to busy myself on the plastics floor, but I'm not very far in my work when no one other than Dr. Reynolds makes his way over and stands next to me, looking eager with a clipboard.

"I was told I'd find you here," he says, smiling.

"Well, I'm here," I say, scribbling something down. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"April said I should observe you," he says.

I shoot him a look. "Dr. Kepner," I say. "She's Dr. Kepner to you."

"Well, she said we could call her-"

"I don't care," I say. "That's unprofessional."

He raises his palms in submission. "Got it," he says. "Anyway, Dr. Kepner said I should observe you and see how things work in the department here. She said I'd learn a lot."

"Do what you want," I say, concentrated on the chart in my hands.

"Okay," he says, and continues to breathe down my neck.

I spend the rest of the day pretending my shadow isn't there. I don't give him a tour of the floor, introduce him to patients, or acknowledge his presence in the slightest. I know I'm being rude and unfair, but I can't seem to stop.

As the day turns into night, Dr. Reynolds immerses himself back with the group of transfers from Seattle Pres hanging out in the attendings lounge. Finding myself free for the first time all day, I make my way to the main floor where I'm guessing April is.

I see her almost immediately, red hair shining in its ponytail. My heart leaps just seeing her, though I try and calm myself down. Dr. Reynolds' face pops into my head and accomplishes that mission.

"Hey," I say, coming up behind her.

She looks over her shoulder. "Oh," she says. "Hi, Jackson. Didn't I send Calvin to shadow you today?"

"Calvin…?"

She looks at me, deadpan. "Dr. Reynolds."

"Oh. Yeah," I say. "I ditched him somewhere."

"Jackson," she says, sighing loudly. "You were supposed to help him."

"He rubs me the wrong way," I say, leaning against the wall. "He got cozy with you real fast."

She gives me a look.

"What?" I say.

"Nothing," she says, twirling the pencil in her hand. "He's a nice guy. You should give him a chance. You never cut people any slack."

"That's not true," I say.

She brushes my comment off and asks, "How was the rest of your day?"

"Fine," I say. "Not enough of you in it, though."

She blushes. I smile to myself because of it.

"Maybe we can meet in an on-call room after our shifts are done…" she says, voice growing high and flirty at the end as she touches my chest with the eraser of her pencil.

"Yeah?" I say, hand brushing her arm.

She touches her neck with her pointer finger. "And maybe I can give you one of these," she says.

I chuckle darkly, so tempted to kiss her out in the open, in front of everyone. But I know I can't.

My shift is over, so I leave April to finish hers and go in the lounge to change out of my scrubs. Accompanying me is the new group of doctors, and I catch their conversation, no matter how badly I don't want to.

"April is really nice," one of them says. I have half a mind to go over there and correct her, make her say 'Dr. Kepner' instead, but I don't. I mind my own business, kind of, while still listening in.

"We got lucky to have her as our tour guide."

"She's really freakin' pretty, too," someone else says, and I know that voice. That's Dr. Reynolds, who I had to listen to for the better part of the day. "I think I might ask her out."

I don't hear anything else after that. I clench my fists and my jaw goes tight, feeling incredibly possessive and territorial, mixed with a great deal of jealousy and rage. He wants to ask her out? After knowing her for one damn day?

I stand up, ready to go over and give him a piece of my mind, but I stop halfway. What will I say? She's seeing someone? No, she's not. What we're doing isn't 'seeing someone,' and I'm not even sure if she wants it to be.

But I do. Yang was right; I definitely do. And I'm not going to let some new guy ruin my chances with April. I can't let that happen.

So, instead of changing into my street clothes like I'd originally planned, I storm out of the lounge right behind Dr. Reynolds. I know where he's headed - the pit, to find April. Because I am, too.

He doesn't realize I'm behind him until we get to the ER and I shoulder him out of the way.

"Hey, man-" he says, but I don't stay and listen to what he has to say.

"April," I call, and she looks at me. She's wearing a yellow gown over her scrubs, hair in loose waves around her face. "April. I need to say something, I need to ask you something."

"Okay…" she says, looking confusedly over my shoulder where I assume Dr. Reynolds is still lingering. "What's up?"

"I have feelings," I say, then inwardly curse myself. What kind of an idiot am I?

"Feelings?" she echoes, creases appearing on her forehead. "Feelings for what?"

"Feelings for you, April! For you," I say, breathlessly. "And I wanna take you out for real. On a real date. To a nice restaurant, I'll wear a tie and you can wear a dress. And I'll pick you up, and hold your hand, and… I wanna actually _be somewhere_ , out with you. I'm proud of you, I'm proud that… I don't know, I'm proud that you exist, and I wanna show you that I am."

She pauses for a moment, turning over my words. "A date?" she asks. "You wanna take me out on a real date?"

I swallow loudly. "Yeah," I say. "Yeah, I do."

She looks at me for a moment, face blanched before it breaks out in a wide, silly grin. "Yes!" she says, then jumps on me and throws her arms around my neck. With our foreheads pressed together, she giggles and kisses me once, sweetly, saying, "Took you long enough."


End file.
